Focus on this scripture throughout the day. It’s about the pulverizing power of God’s Word. It’s like a hammer; so use it by speaking it! It’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day.
I met Camille virtually, through my blog, in July 2012. She was disheartened about her infertility and was searching for some answers. We exchanged a couple of emails during my attempt to encourage her to keep her hope alive. I shared her email in last week’s post.
Fast forward to July 2014: As I stated last week, I “happened” to come across her email while cleaning out a file (I LOVE IT WHEN GOD SETS THINGS UP!). I decided to check in with her to see how she was doing.
Here’s a part of her email. My prayer is that is gives you hope and inspires you to trust the promises and faithfulness of God. He is not only able, He is willing!
Hi Evangeline,
It is so nice to hear from you. God is good. I am happy to report to you that my husband and I have been highly blessed and favored. I am a few days away from being 38 weeks pregnant with a little boy due July 28th. Your book, A Seed of Hope, was so encouraging and truly advanced my faith that this would happen for us one day!
I have to say that my husband and I read your book and it was so encouraging. I would re-read certain passages over and over again when doubt and fear crept in. Back in November my husband and I decided to start the process for IVF. This was after trying 3 unsuccessful IUIs before I ever read your book. So we thought we would go for it and if it was God’s will, it would happen for us.
Here’s Camille’s back story:
One day I was talking with my best friend about my struggle with infertility. I have to mention that she and her husband had just given birth to my god-daughter through IVF and while I was extremely happy for her, I felt why was God not making it happen for me.
However, on this particular day of talking with my best friend, I was so down and depressed … I felt she could no longer relate because she had her baby. That’s another story.
I remember going to Wal-Mart to get some household supplies after getting off the phone with her and when I came out it was pouring down raining. With no umbrella and getting completely soaked and wet, I looked up to the sky and said to God, “Come on… are you serious?” I was so full of anger and depression.
However, when I got home, I had an email from you! Now I had never spoken to you and am sure that I had only posted on your blog just one time. This was a sign to me that the Lord hears us and he sends people our way (sometimes even strangers) to show us that he is still with us even when we think he is not. I have used this story as a testimony.
I really wanted to let you know how much you and your book have meant to our lives. You following up with me is another reminder of the importance of telling our story of God’s greatness and continued blessings.
Thank you and I love you!
Camille
Camille was so thoughtful– she sent me a set of her baby’s pictures. He’s adorable and such a cutie pie when he yawns. 🙂
I hope her story will serve to encourage you to continue to trust God’s love for you, stand on His promises by believing and speaking God’s Word into your life, and expect that they will produce His and your desired harvest in your life.
Need more encouragement? Decide now to pull away from the stress of infertility and renew your mind to the promises of God about your fertility.
Join me at my next iHope Fertility Retreat in November 2014!
In John 15:4-5 [MSG], Jesus says, “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.“
If you look at this picture I took of a grapevine in Napa Valley, you’ll see a thick, strong vine standing at ground level. The vine is always firmly rooted, remaining in a fixed state. Above the vine, tied onto the trellis, are many tender and flexible branches filled with large green leaves and clusters of juicy grapes. They tend to be blown in the direction of any wind that comes along, thereby the need for the trellis so that the branches aren’t torn away from the vine by gusty winds. The branches get their nourishment through the vine, which transports energizing sap to each branch. The vine acts as the strong connector to the source of energy and nutrition—the root system in the soil. Because the vine imparts sap, each of the branches has the ability to produce leaves and fruit.
Jesus said that He is the Vine. As the Vine, He imparts His nature (the sap) to us. With His strength and power to stand against the winds of life, He brings stability to our lives as we choose to make a pointed recognition of Him in our everyday lives. Because He is connected to the Father (the roots), He is always giving to us whatever the Father gives to Him. The Father is the source of everything good and EVERYTHING the Father gives to Jesus is good (James 1:17). The blessing in that fact is that Jesus has finished the necessary work on the cross in order for us to receive all that goodness and favor from the Father. His answer to every promise that He made is “YES” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
As the branches, we are in constant need of spiritual contact with Jesus in order to live the abundant life He died and rose to give us. Believers will always have Him living inside their spirit but, with no pointed commitment to fellowship with Him, we don’t bear much fruit–there’s not a lot of evidence of His favor working in our lives. Abiding in Him is the difference maker in our personal harvest.
Abiding is an act of faith in His grace. It means we choose to depend on Jesus and rest in His finished work. It means receiving His “no matter what” kind of love over and over again everyday. A branch separated from the vine cannot produce leaves or grapes. By remaining connected with Him, we branches receive the Vine’s sap, the stream of supernatural Life flowing from the Father to Jesus to us. Abiding provides for greater production of fruitfulness/good things in our lives.
As a believer in Jesus, you are never out of His care because He said He would never forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). After salvation, it is our choice whether to make daily fellowship with Him a priority so that we take advantage of the Life flowing from Him to us. When we have the combination of Him in us and us abiding in Him, then we bear much fruit and enjoy the abundant life Jesus speaks of in John 10:10.
We have free will to choose whether to abide in Him today. We get to decide whether we will look to Jesus throughout the day and abide in Him or be distracted by the gusty winds of life and feel disconnected.
What will you choose?
I recently hosted and facilitated a retreat to help women who are struggling with infertility. The iHope Fertility Retreat helped women attending from across the country to:
Workshops at the iHope Fertility Retreat were based on the content of my book, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility. We discussed many topics that helped with increasing trust in God such as God’s lavish and unending love and His faithfulness to always follow through on His promises. The weekend was filled with revelation and spiritual growth as we held open and honest discussions centered on God’s promise.
In addition to hearing my personal story of victory over infertility, attendees were empowered through video testimonies of other women who have overcome infertility. Guest speakers provided encouragement and fun insights. Activities and props enhanced the lessons learned in the workshop sessions.
A personal chef provided delicious and nutritious meals that incorporated natural, “good for you” foods because the goal was to feed the women “as if they were pregnant.”
The iHope Fertility Retreat provided an environment to recharge each woman’s spirit by tapping into what God says about infertility in the Bible. Learning how to increasingly trust God’s love and believe His fertility promises in the Bible helped the women to experience enhanced peace.
I was excited to share spiritual strategies and solutions that specifically related to infertility and empowered women to leave with a more hope-filled focus for having a child!
If someone you know is struggling with infertility, invite them to contact me about the next iHope Fertility Retreat, which will be held in Fall 2014.
Monday’s Marinade is provided to you as a means of “soaking yourself” in the hope-filled Word of God at the beginning of your week. Start your week by meditating on this Word. Repeatedly think about and quietly say it to yourself. Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!
Here’s your spiritual marinade for this week:
If you’ve been contemplating whether you should come to my iHope Fertility Retreat,
there’s still one spot left.
IS IT YOUR’S?
I am so honored that God is using me as a vessel to bring this special weekend of R&R to those women who battle the daily grind of infertility. The R&R in this instance stands for Rest and Receive. This intimate gathering starts on Friday, May 30 in Phoenix, AZ.
Join us for a weekend of:
This will be much more than a “Calgon moment.” You’ll be allowed to turn off all the infertility stressors from your everyday life and plug into God’s promises so you can Rest and Receive.
It’s an all-inclusive weekend—your registration fee covers your lodging, meals, and workshop materials— and I hope you’ll be a part of it.
If you’re not personally affected by infertility but know someone who is, consider gifting them a weekend away so they can shift their focus from the despair of infertility to being hope-filled in God’s promises of fertility.
Find all the details here.
Two years ago this month, I released my first “real” book, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility, a devotional that encourages women and gives tips about how to have hope during infertility.
I was totally new to being an author. Writing it was a labor of love. It was a result of a long incubation period, repeatedly mulling over what I should say in it. Releasing it was a birthing process filled with anxiety, stress, and self-doubt. And yet, when I finally let it go into the digital meatgrinder of Smashwords.com and into the mouth of the online behemoth Amazon, I felt so relieved!
Here’s what a reader/fellow blogger thinks about A Seed of Hope:
“Thank you so much for your encouragement! I could send you a thank you card every day of the week for how much your testimony and faith has helped me.”
[ Elisha at www.waitingforbabybird ]
April 21-26, 2014 will be National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW), sponsored by RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association.I’d like to celebrate my book release anniversary and NIAW by sending you a signed copy of A Seed of Hope. You can order it via PayPal–click here. A portion of the proceeds from your purchase will be donated to RESOLVE., an organization that educates and advocates on behalf of those struggling with infertility.
If you’ve read the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. Feel free to leave your comment below or on Amazon.
Focus on the following scripture throughout the day. It’s God’s Word and it’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth. Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who did bless us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3 (YLT)
Image courtesy of criminalatt / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Focus on the following scripture throughout the day. It’s God’s Word and it’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth. Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us…”
Romans 5:5 NLT
